That having been said, it will come as no surprise that my latest book is Professional Idiot: A Memoir by Stephen "Steve-O" Glover. Yeah, he's the naked guy from Jackass.
...
Actually, I should narrow that down a bit more... He's the naked guy from Jackass who would swallow goldfish and throw them back up alive. THAT guy.
When you watch things like Jackass and Wildboyz, you'd think "Man, these guys are some kind of fucked up. I'd have to be out of my mind to do some of that stuff." Well, you're right. Oh, you have no idea how right you are. Some of the stuff he tells about in this book would shock even the most hardcore Jackass fanatics (of which I was one, yes). He not only shines the spotlight on some of the horribly twisted and vulgar things he did before, during, and after filming, but those of his friends and co-stars as well. Very informative.
I was really delighted and surprised at how well the book was written. I know that most people like Steve-O who "write" their autobios tend to have a little (more like a lot) of help from ghostwriters and editors galore. (You seriously think Brandon Novak wrote all that by himself?) I was ready to believe that about this book as well until I started to get deeper into it. I would think: "If they were at least trying to make it sound like he wrote it, they would dumb it down a little, right? This is downright eloquent..."
As you get further and further into the book, no matter the subject, whether it was ass cheek piercing, talking to voices that weren't there after too much coke, or peeing on the red carpet, the language, the grammar, syntax... it's actually gorgeous while still maintaining a voice that I can hear him speaking in my head. Then I came upon a picture (because of course celebrity autobios should have picture inserts. If they don't, they're wrong) of a sample of his handwriting (something he had written while he was in jail) and DAMN!
Not only is he surprisingly loquacious and articulate, his penmanship is fantastic!
I also like his attitude in the book. In most drug memoirs, you get all of this horrible feelings of the past, then this bright, cheery, overly simplified and unreachable goal for a future with no pain. Le sigh. But this book has a realistic approach to both the good and the bad. He looks back at the past with both fondness and a little regret. He takes responsibility for everything he did when he was under the influence (he openly admits to doing most things just for the attention), apologizes (but not in a douche-y way) and then turns his attention to what he wants to get done, but in a realistic way. It might not be the shiny happy attitude that most former drug addicts have, but it's relatable and it definitely more interesting to me than those others.
There's a quote that sort of describes what I'm talking about:
"When people talk about addiction, they tend to ask, 'How bad did it
get?' 'What made you hit bottom?' For me, I didn't bottom out when I
was getting drunk and doing drugs. Right up until the time of my intervention,
I was pretty sure I was still having a blast. I hit bottom when
I'd been clean for a hundred days and finally saw what I'd become." (pg 296)
It does end on a somewhat upbeat, cliche former addict fashion. Talking about being healthier (he became a vegan as well, of course). But other than that, I thought it was a good read.
No comments:
Post a Comment